Great photo! Our male Lyretails have a lot of differences up close. Yours has so many nice violet tones. Do you think his transition is complete yet?
jlanger's 120gal Arts and Crafts Inspired Reef Build (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter jlanger
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Great photo! Our male Lyretails have a lot of differences up close. Yours has so many nice violet tones. Do you think his transition is complete yet?
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jlanger
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Based on the lack of the red color my last male had, no.
Based on the fact that there are four females in the harem, he should be.
Although this guy isn't quite as large as my other male, so maybe that has something to do with it. But then again, your male isn't quite that size either.
My male definitely acts like a full male; doing his "U"-dip dance every night. So who knows.
I would like to see the red coloration come into full glory though.
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jlanger
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Over the past two weeks, I have done some minor/major changes to my system.
To lower my nutrient levels, I have completed a couple of series of 50% water changes; four water changes the first week and another two this week. In addition to the water changes, I have added some additional filtration practices to my system.
The first thing I did was to fully clean out the sump. There had been a couple of rogue aiptasia anemones on the sump but without having any photoperiod, they weren't very prolific. I also vacuumed out all detritus and other unwanteds, so the sump gave me a fairly clean start for battling the nutrients. I didn't scrub down the skimmer's outside and pump to remove all of the encrusting microfauna.
I did add a modified filter sock to help remove as much of the detritus prior to the block as possible. I cut the plastic ring off of a filter sock and placed it between my first set of baffles. A couple pairs of magnets hold it into place. It's not very efficient as far as maintenance is concerned, so I may play around with a different ring for the sock or possibly moving my baffle back to accommodate the original ring.
The first addition was to add two of the MarinePure Ceramic Media blocks to increase the available surface area for bacteria to help consume the nitrates. I've been seeding the blocks with Brightwell's MicroBacter7 this past week. The second method of nutrient exportation was to re-install my BRS reactor and utilize GFO to reduce the phosphates. Over the two weeks, I have reduced the nitrates from over 32ppm to 4ppm and the phosphates have gone from 0.16ppm to around 0.02ppm.
I'll be monitoring my nutrient levels closely to see if any modifications need to be made. I would really like not to have to keep up with 50% water changes multiple times each week; I've gone through more than enough salt these past two weeks!
To lower my nutrient levels, I have completed a couple of series of 50% water changes; four water changes the first week and another two this week. In addition to the water changes, I have added some additional filtration practices to my system.
The first thing I did was to fully clean out the sump. There had been a couple of rogue aiptasia anemones on the sump but without having any photoperiod, they weren't very prolific. I also vacuumed out all detritus and other unwanteds, so the sump gave me a fairly clean start for battling the nutrients. I didn't scrub down the skimmer's outside and pump to remove all of the encrusting microfauna.
I did add a modified filter sock to help remove as much of the detritus prior to the block as possible. I cut the plastic ring off of a filter sock and placed it between my first set of baffles. A couple pairs of magnets hold it into place. It's not very efficient as far as maintenance is concerned, so I may play around with a different ring for the sock or possibly moving my baffle back to accommodate the original ring.
The first addition was to add two of the MarinePure Ceramic Media blocks to increase the available surface area for bacteria to help consume the nitrates. I've been seeding the blocks with Brightwell's MicroBacter7 this past week. The second method of nutrient exportation was to re-install my BRS reactor and utilize GFO to reduce the phosphates. Over the two weeks, I have reduced the nitrates from over 32ppm to 4ppm and the phosphates have gone from 0.16ppm to around 0.02ppm.
I'll be monitoring my nutrient levels closely to see if any modifications need to be made. I would really like not to have to keep up with 50% water changes multiple times each week; I've gone through more than enough salt these past two weeks!
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jlanger
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With all of my attention (hands in the tank) over the past couple of weeks, the Splendid Pintail Fairy Wrasse pair have settled down and don't mind my intrusions. This bodes well for better photographs!
The male pintail fairy wrasse is really stunning and fun to watch.
The colors on the fish are a nice addition to my tank's color palette. Even though I have similar colors from my anthias, the bright reds and yellows really jump out on this guy. As dusk begins to settle in on the reef, the reds become more prevalent and some white dots appear along his back.
With most wrasses, this guy is very curious. He's constantly twisting and looking into the rock for something to snack on.
It's been a while since I've kept any wrasses (besides my leopard wrasse), so it's fun watching their swimming behavior; like using all of their fins (even their dorsal) for swimming.
The female wrasse goes through very dramatic color changes. When she's clam, she's colored up similar to the male with the soft red, pinks and yellows. When she's stressed, she turns very pale; her back is a light pink while her body and belly turn silver. It's very easy to tell how the tank's mood is on a certain day just by looking ay her coloration.
The female spends most of her time swimming in the rocks; not as much an open swimmer as the male. The pair of wrasses do spend moments near each other. The male does show his dominance at times by giving her a quick chase; similar to anthias.
Here's the pair together. (She's having a good day.)
The male pintail fairy wrasse is really stunning and fun to watch.
The colors on the fish are a nice addition to my tank's color palette. Even though I have similar colors from my anthias, the bright reds and yellows really jump out on this guy. As dusk begins to settle in on the reef, the reds become more prevalent and some white dots appear along his back.
With most wrasses, this guy is very curious. He's constantly twisting and looking into the rock for something to snack on.
It's been a while since I've kept any wrasses (besides my leopard wrasse), so it's fun watching their swimming behavior; like using all of their fins (even their dorsal) for swimming.
The female wrasse goes through very dramatic color changes. When she's clam, she's colored up similar to the male with the soft red, pinks and yellows. When she's stressed, she turns very pale; her back is a light pink while her body and belly turn silver. It's very easy to tell how the tank's mood is on a certain day just by looking ay her coloration.
The female spends most of her time swimming in the rocks; not as much an open swimmer as the male. The pair of wrasses do spend moments near each other. The male does show his dominance at times by giving her a quick chase; similar to anthias.
Here's the pair together. (She's having a good day.)
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Steve Whited
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I have read that those marine pure ceramic blocks leach aluminum so i would watch that
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jlanger
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I was aware of those claims and it was brought up in my other thread about losing corals.
The claims of the ceramic blocks leaching aluminum aren't confirmed as being something that is detrimental to our tanks. There's not a positive ID on which aluminum compound is being leached and if it is even bad for the our reefs. The claims are based on the Triton tests showing an increase in aluminum in tanks that are experiencing issues, but those issues could have been pre-existing and not the result of an elevated test result.
But I will keep an eye on further claims and tests when the arise.
Thanks for the post.
Steve Whited
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Yea keep us informed becouse i thought about getting them and researched it
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Great shot of the male Pintail.
FWIW I've had MarinePure Spheres in the ELOS since the day it had water.
FWIW I've had MarinePure Spheres in the ELOS since the day it had water.
Glad to hear you've got the nitrate down. I bet the changes you've made will go a long ways. Great pics of the pintails!!
So how's the nitrate maintaining?
Are you still using NOPOX and how do you like it? I've considered trying it in one of my tanks.
Are you still using NOPOX and how do you like it? I've considered trying it in one of my tanks.
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jlanger
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The nitrates have seemed to hit a wall at about 3-4ppm.
I will continue dosing the NO-POX at 10ml/day until the nitrates bottom out. I have been dosing the Microbacter7 to seed the ceramic media; which should start showing results soon. The initial dosing period lasts two weeks and then I start a maintenance dose.
I imagine I'll continue dosing the NO-POX; but I'll slowly reduce the amount to monitor if the bacteria is keeping up.
I did a normal water change this afternoon, but I haven't tested the nitrates yet to set a starting point for monitoring the nitrates.
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jlanger
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Two more weeks with only two 30gal water changes. The nitrates are still in the 4ppm range.
I'm thinking that my sand bed could use a renovation as there are some areas that seem to like to collect whatever detritus does not get removed from the normal water currents. I have numerous nassarius snails to help keep the sand bed mixed up, but they seem to stay in a couple general areas. I have been considering using a slightly larger grain size than the fine aragonite I'm using now. The fine sand is getting blown around too much now that I've added two more MP40's to the tank.
Another update that I've finally gotten around to has been the programming of my four MP40's on the 120gal.
Since it has been a good year since I started a thread about mimicking tidal surge in our tanks, I've abandoned the idea and just set up my pumps with a standard wave. Maybe someday I'll revisit the idea, but I need to stop waiting for "somedays".
The two MP40QWD pumps are located towards the upper front of the sides and the two MP40w-ES pumps are located near the middle back of the tank. I have the pumps being controlled through my Apex Fusion. Overnight I just run the pumps on a low constant speed that ramps up to the Tidal Swell Mode in the morning. After a few hours, the pumps ramp up to begin a wave pulse that starts an anti-sync cycle between the four pumps. In mid-afternoon the pulse wave ramps to a peak and then falls back to a smaller pulse until the evening hours. As the pumps ramp down for the night, they run in Nutrient Export Mode for a couple of hours before ramping down to the lower constant speed for overnight. All of this can be viewed with Apex Fusion sharing.
It's been a while since I've run a standing wave on my system; usually let the Reef Crest/Tidal Swell Modes do their work. One reason for doing this is that as some of the corals have grown out, they have grown more stunted by the constant force of water from the pumps running all the time. I could see some of the corals losing polyps and tissue from being subjected to a constant blast of water. Hopefully with the pulsing of the water, the corals will benefit from a reprieve and begin to fill out more.
Here's some pics from the past two weeks. I tried using some different settings (i.e. exposure) to see if there was any differences in the photos that I liked. The experiment yielded some interesting photos, but I think I still like it when the camera does the thinking for me.
Here's a view from the right end of my tank.
The image has great contrast, but I lost the red color of the montipora. Since I switched to using the ESV B-Ionic 2 Part supplements, the montipora corals have showed amazing growth and pattern.
These two photos are of two different "staghorn" corals that I have growing on the topmost shelf in my tank.
I've discussed the weird growing form of the blue/green staghorn previously. A few weeks back, I clipped off the tips of three branches that hadn't shown any growth in the past year. You can see new growth on these tips, and it also looks to be like that of the original branch.
And this is a Green Slimer that has been pretty much neglected over the past year or so. The coral lost a lot of polyps and tissue over the past nine months, but you can easily see the new growth that has begun. Again, it's growing in a bushy form as opposed to the branching form. Maybe this is how corals begin a new growing cycle to establish many points of new growth to maximize the chances of new branches surviving.
And I cannot leave without another picture of the new pintail wrasse.
It seems that these fish have become quite popular as I have seen many of them available over the past month or so. If you're thinking about adding a reef-safe wrasse (that is on the smaller side), I highly recommend them. Some of the "supermales" that have been coming in look spectacular. Hopefully this little guy will grow into one of them!
I'm thinking that my sand bed could use a renovation as there are some areas that seem to like to collect whatever detritus does not get removed from the normal water currents. I have numerous nassarius snails to help keep the sand bed mixed up, but they seem to stay in a couple general areas. I have been considering using a slightly larger grain size than the fine aragonite I'm using now. The fine sand is getting blown around too much now that I've added two more MP40's to the tank.
Another update that I've finally gotten around to has been the programming of my four MP40's on the 120gal.
Since it has been a good year since I started a thread about mimicking tidal surge in our tanks, I've abandoned the idea and just set up my pumps with a standard wave. Maybe someday I'll revisit the idea, but I need to stop waiting for "somedays".
The two MP40QWD pumps are located towards the upper front of the sides and the two MP40w-ES pumps are located near the middle back of the tank. I have the pumps being controlled through my Apex Fusion. Overnight I just run the pumps on a low constant speed that ramps up to the Tidal Swell Mode in the morning. After a few hours, the pumps ramp up to begin a wave pulse that starts an anti-sync cycle between the four pumps. In mid-afternoon the pulse wave ramps to a peak and then falls back to a smaller pulse until the evening hours. As the pumps ramp down for the night, they run in Nutrient Export Mode for a couple of hours before ramping down to the lower constant speed for overnight. All of this can be viewed with Apex Fusion sharing.
It's been a while since I've run a standing wave on my system; usually let the Reef Crest/Tidal Swell Modes do their work. One reason for doing this is that as some of the corals have grown out, they have grown more stunted by the constant force of water from the pumps running all the time. I could see some of the corals losing polyps and tissue from being subjected to a constant blast of water. Hopefully with the pulsing of the water, the corals will benefit from a reprieve and begin to fill out more.
Here's some pics from the past two weeks. I tried using some different settings (i.e. exposure) to see if there was any differences in the photos that I liked. The experiment yielded some interesting photos, but I think I still like it when the camera does the thinking for me.
Here's a view from the right end of my tank.
The image has great contrast, but I lost the red color of the montipora. Since I switched to using the ESV B-Ionic 2 Part supplements, the montipora corals have showed amazing growth and pattern.
These two photos are of two different "staghorn" corals that I have growing on the topmost shelf in my tank.
I've discussed the weird growing form of the blue/green staghorn previously. A few weeks back, I clipped off the tips of three branches that hadn't shown any growth in the past year. You can see new growth on these tips, and it also looks to be like that of the original branch.
And this is a Green Slimer that has been pretty much neglected over the past year or so. The coral lost a lot of polyps and tissue over the past nine months, but you can easily see the new growth that has begun. Again, it's growing in a bushy form as opposed to the branching form. Maybe this is how corals begin a new growing cycle to establish many points of new growth to maximize the chances of new branches surviving.
And I cannot leave without another picture of the new pintail wrasse.
It seems that these fish have become quite popular as I have seen many of them available over the past month or so. If you're thinking about adding a reef-safe wrasse (that is on the smaller side), I highly recommend them. Some of the "supermales" that have been coming in look spectacular. Hopefully this little guy will grow into one of them!
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I think maybe you could post a nice picture of that fish with every post and no one would complain 
Looks like your shortcake is getting some nice color, too.
Looks like your shortcake is getting some nice color, too.
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jlanger
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I think maybe you could post a nice picture of that fish with every post and no one would complain
Thanks. I'm glad you said that.
I forgot a picture of a birds nest colony that is doing really well now; one I bought from you.
This is another photo with the exposure turned down on the initial photograph; colors are much deeper in tone.
The shortcake coral has always had decent color but it is one of those that has shown the stunted growth; very dense and lots of encrusting.
And here's the obligatory pintail wrasse photo. This time, the female.
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jlanger
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Some recent updates...
I purchased two new MP40QWD wetside assemblies to replace the older ones. One of the old wetsides had a broken magnet and would no longer work, so I decided to replace both of them. Now all four MP40's are running and controlled vis Apex Fusion.
Here's today's FTS.
You can see that my montipora spp. corals are growing incredibly well. The red M. hodgsoni and the beige colony are starting to take up a lot of space. The green M. hodgsoni on the upper left side is growing too fast. The birds nest coral that was placed on the edge of that shelf is starting to get crowded by the new growth. Let me remind you that all of the green M. hodgsoni has been grown from encrusted remnants after I sold all of my colonies.
Speaking of new growth...
My collection of electric Blue Mushrooms seems to be pumping out new polyps. I started with about three of them that came in on a
SPS colony I purchased years ago. Periodically, I will find individual polyps around the tank that have decided it was time to leave the nursery. I have no idea how many of them I have now.
I'm excited that I once again have a frag of the Miyagi Tort.
A few months back, I traded a frag of mine for this frag with NickMan. The frag was washed out and more yellow in color, but it has since colored up nicely and has started to show new growth. Thanks, Nick!
Another one of my favorite SPS corals that I had lost was the Hawkins Echinata. When I built a stand for RandoReefer, he had a little nubbin' frag that he gave me. This coral has also recently started to show new growth. Thanks, Randy!
Hopefully these are signs that my system has recovered from all of the issues that I had last fall/winter.
Here's just a pic that I liked from today.
I moved the hammer coral colony into the chasm. I tried various pieces of montipora and other SPS corals in that location, but nothing looked good in my eyes. The hammer colony was too big at first but after removing one of the four mini-colonies, it fit perfectly. Now the clownfish pair have another retreat in their section of the reef.
I also liked this photo as it, once again, shows my Midas Blenny swimming with the anthias. I wish the other two female anthias were in the photo, but it's difficult to get all six of those fish in one location.
I purchased two new MP40QWD wetside assemblies to replace the older ones. One of the old wetsides had a broken magnet and would no longer work, so I decided to replace both of them. Now all four MP40's are running and controlled vis Apex Fusion.
Here's today's FTS.
You can see that my montipora spp. corals are growing incredibly well. The red M. hodgsoni and the beige colony are starting to take up a lot of space. The green M. hodgsoni on the upper left side is growing too fast. The birds nest coral that was placed on the edge of that shelf is starting to get crowded by the new growth. Let me remind you that all of the green M. hodgsoni has been grown from encrusted remnants after I sold all of my colonies.
Speaking of new growth...
My collection of electric Blue Mushrooms seems to be pumping out new polyps. I started with about three of them that came in on a
SPS colony I purchased years ago. Periodically, I will find individual polyps around the tank that have decided it was time to leave the nursery. I have no idea how many of them I have now.
I'm excited that I once again have a frag of the Miyagi Tort.
A few months back, I traded a frag of mine for this frag with NickMan. The frag was washed out and more yellow in color, but it has since colored up nicely and has started to show new growth. Thanks, Nick!
Another one of my favorite SPS corals that I had lost was the Hawkins Echinata. When I built a stand for RandoReefer, he had a little nubbin' frag that he gave me. This coral has also recently started to show new growth. Thanks, Randy!
Hopefully these are signs that my system has recovered from all of the issues that I had last fall/winter.
Here's just a pic that I liked from today.
I moved the hammer coral colony into the chasm. I tried various pieces of montipora and other SPS corals in that location, but nothing looked good in my eyes. The hammer colony was too big at first but after removing one of the four mini-colonies, it fit perfectly. Now the clownfish pair have another retreat in their section of the reef.
I also liked this photo as it, once again, shows my Midas Blenny swimming with the anthias. I wish the other two female anthias were in the photo, but it's difficult to get all six of those fish in one location.
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jlanger
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Here's just a couple of pics from today's quick water change before leaving town (again) for the weekend.
I told Eric that I would try and get a good photo of the RR Nauti Spiral frag we traded for last fall. The frag is now about five inches across and starting to spiral on the left side while the right side is all turning up.
This photo isn't far off from what the coral looks actually looks like; the coral tissue appears more orange to the eye. The pink color of the growing edge is that pink; very pretty. Thanks, Eric.
Another picture showing a few events happening in my tank.
This is a top-down shot of the left island.
Since I added the two T5 bulbs to supplement the Radions, the red M. capricornus has finally turned red. That coral was one of my first SPS corals I purchase about six years ago. It was always a bold red color under T5 lighting, but when I switched to LEDs it was alawys a muddy red. The growth of the coral has also picked up since I have had more stable water parameters. The red and the green monitors are starting to encroach other corals and I'll have to decide to trim the montis or move the others. The two purple Stylophoras are beginning to fall under the expanding montipora corals. The bird nest frag is already getting attacked by the green montipora. I have no issue with fragging the green coral, it's the red one I like too much to start breaking up.
And here's some evidence of why you shouldn't throw out a coral frag until it is officially dead; and covered in new algae.
Way back I posted this pic of an SPS coral that was almost completely lost, but started to regrow from the two tips. Remember?...
Well... Here's that same coral today.
What amazes me is that this was sold as a "Fuzzy Purple Acro" that I picked up from PetCo years ago.
The colors are really that bright to the naked eye; blue and green. The image is a little dark as I needed to block some light from reflecting on the water's surface. (I need to get one of those Avast Marine portholes so I don't need to worry about reflecting light.)
Enjoy your weekend!
I told Eric that I would try and get a good photo of the RR Nauti Spiral frag we traded for last fall. The frag is now about five inches across and starting to spiral on the left side while the right side is all turning up.
This photo isn't far off from what the coral looks actually looks like; the coral tissue appears more orange to the eye. The pink color of the growing edge is that pink; very pretty. Thanks, Eric.
Another picture showing a few events happening in my tank.
This is a top-down shot of the left island.
Since I added the two T5 bulbs to supplement the Radions, the red M. capricornus has finally turned red. That coral was one of my first SPS corals I purchase about six years ago. It was always a bold red color under T5 lighting, but when I switched to LEDs it was alawys a muddy red. The growth of the coral has also picked up since I have had more stable water parameters. The red and the green monitors are starting to encroach other corals and I'll have to decide to trim the montis or move the others. The two purple Stylophoras are beginning to fall under the expanding montipora corals. The bird nest frag is already getting attacked by the green montipora. I have no issue with fragging the green coral, it's the red one I like too much to start breaking up.
And here's some evidence of why you shouldn't throw out a coral frag until it is officially dead; and covered in new algae.
Way back I posted this pic of an SPS coral that was almost completely lost, but started to regrow from the two tips. Remember?...
Well... Here's that same coral today.
What amazes me is that this was sold as a "Fuzzy Purple Acro" that I picked up from PetCo years ago.
The colors are really that bright to the naked eye; blue and green. The image is a little dark as I needed to block some light from reflecting on the water's surface. (I need to get one of those Avast Marine portholes so I don't need to worry about reflecting light.)
Enjoy your weekend!
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jlanger
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This week's eye candy.
These are "non-macro" photos for those that are tired of seeing those.oke:
Not much has changed in a week, but there has been a couple of new frags made by the angelfish. One large branch from the Forest Fire Digitata and a good section of the Green Montipora Digitata were found laying on the sand bed one day. Someone must've pissed him off; most likely the Scribbled Rabbitfish as they seem to have the most flare ups. Genicanthus angels are reef-safe; my ass! :biglaugh2:
My water changes on the two tanks should easily take me less than an hour, but I tend to spend another good hour taking pictures; if not longer.
I'm always trying to capture unique photos by testing various methods and settings.
For me, I really like the top-down photos; which makes a lot of sense. Since most of my corals are plating species, there's more coral to look at from above. And this also makes sense as all corals grow to capture the most light as possible that comes from above.
This last photo was taken with my canopy pushed all the way to the back so that the image was full of shadows; causing the camera to capture these bold colors.
I like it; a lot!
These are "non-macro" photos for those that are tired of seeing those.
oke:Not much has changed in a week, but there has been a couple of new frags made by the angelfish. One large branch from the Forest Fire Digitata and a good section of the Green Montipora Digitata were found laying on the sand bed one day. Someone must've pissed him off; most likely the Scribbled Rabbitfish as they seem to have the most flare ups. Genicanthus angels are reef-safe; my ass! :biglaugh2:
My water changes on the two tanks should easily take me less than an hour, but I tend to spend another good hour taking pictures; if not longer.
I'm always trying to capture unique photos by testing various methods and settings.
For me, I really like the top-down photos; which makes a lot of sense. Since most of my corals are plating species, there's more coral to look at from above. And this also makes sense as all corals grow to capture the most light as possible that comes from above.
This last photo was taken with my canopy pushed all the way to the back so that the image was full of shadows; causing the camera to capture these bold colors.
I like it; a lot!
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jlanger
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So after completing the full barrage of water tests this morning, here's my results.
SG: 1.027
Temp: 77º
Alk: 7.934 dKH (Hanna) 8.0 dKH (Salifert)
Ca: 489 ppm (Hanna)
Mg: 1280 ppm (Red Sea)
NO3: 16 ppm (Red Sea)
PO4: 0.04 ppm (Red Sea)
Calcium is a little high, but not alarmingly so. My reservoir for the calcium supplement was getting towards the bottom, so I don't know if the solution has had a higher concentration from not being periodically shaken. I just refilled the reservoir with a new batch, so I'll see if there're any changes.
My calcium and alkalinity supplements are the ESV B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System and are dosed via the Neptune Systems DOS pump and Fusion.
I dose my calcium supplement at 21ml/day from 11AM to 10PM.
I dose the alkalinity supplement at 30ml/day from 12AM to 10AM.
Nutrient levels... :grr: The nitrates have crept back up to unacceptable levels, but the phosphates have not. They say that the ceramic media blocks won't really show an impact until they've been established for three months or longer. I hope that's the case, as I'm very close to that three month mark. The GFO has done its job with keeping the phosphates in range.
Even if the ceramic media blocks get a handle on the nitrates, I'm still considering removing the aragonite sand bed and replacing it with the special grade sand. I think by having the slightly larger sized sand grain, I can vacuum the sand bed more effectively than I can now.
And I'm still tempted to try adding an ATS to my filtration system.
So there's an update on the recovery progress of the water parameters.
Any questions, comments or additional input is welcomed. Thanks.
SG: 1.027
Temp: 77º
Alk: 7.934 dKH (Hanna) 8.0 dKH (Salifert)
Ca: 489 ppm (Hanna)
Mg: 1280 ppm (Red Sea)
NO3: 16 ppm (Red Sea)
PO4: 0.04 ppm (Red Sea)
Calcium is a little high, but not alarmingly so. My reservoir for the calcium supplement was getting towards the bottom, so I don't know if the solution has had a higher concentration from not being periodically shaken. I just refilled the reservoir with a new batch, so I'll see if there're any changes.
My calcium and alkalinity supplements are the ESV B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System and are dosed via the Neptune Systems DOS pump and Fusion.
I dose my calcium supplement at 21ml/day from 11AM to 10PM.
I dose the alkalinity supplement at 30ml/day from 12AM to 10AM.
Nutrient levels... :grr: The nitrates have crept back up to unacceptable levels, but the phosphates have not. They say that the ceramic media blocks won't really show an impact until they've been established for three months or longer. I hope that's the case, as I'm very close to that three month mark. The GFO has done its job with keeping the phosphates in range.
Even if the ceramic media blocks get a handle on the nitrates, I'm still considering removing the aragonite sand bed and replacing it with the special grade sand. I think by having the slightly larger sized sand grain, I can vacuum the sand bed more effectively than I can now.
And I'm still tempted to try adding an ATS to my filtration system.
So there's an update on the recovery progress of the water parameters.
Any questions, comments or additional input is welcomed. Thanks.
No negative effects from the ceramic?
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jlanger
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Nope; none that I can contribute to adding the blocks to my system.